This weeks UK Arabidopsis Research Roundup includes three papers featuring researchers from the University of Nottingham as well as manuscripts from Leeds, Lancaster, QMUL and The Sainsburys Lab in Norwich

Firstly Stefan Kepinski (Leeds) leads a study that investigates how Gravitropic Set Point Angle (GSA) is controlled in response to different growth factors. Secondly are two Methods papers featuring researchers from CPIB in Nottingham, the first of which is in collaboration with Lancaster University and introduces the Microphentron, which is an automated phenotyping platform that can be used for chemical biology screens. The second paper describes a non-destructive method for imaging floral tissues using CT scanning.

Ranjan Swarup is also a member of CPIB and in the next paper he has collaborated with French colleagues to investigate the role of SHR on root development in rice.

The fourth paper includes Cyril Zipfel as a co-author and investigates the role of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) in the response to pathogen attack whereas this weeks final paper is from the lab of Alexander Ruban (QMUL) and discovers the phenotypic consequences of persistent damage to PSII by photoinhibition.

Open AccessStefan Kepinski (University of Leeds) leads this study that involves a collaboration with Dolf Weijers from Wageningen University. They investigate the role of both auxin and environmental factors in determining gravitropic set point angle (GSA), which is a measure of the growth of lateral organs away from primary shoots and roots. They show that nitrogen and phosphorous deficiency causes opposing effects on lateral root GSA, each of which are auxin-dependent. This contrasts with previous findings from work using bean adventitious roots. They find that these differences are maintained when Arabidopsis and bean roots are treated with different auxin concentrations. Latterly they also look at the effect of different light conditions on shoot GSA and put these findings into the context of potentially altering crop growth.

This methods paper is a collaboration between the Universities of Lancaster and Nottingham led by Brian Forde that describes the Microphenotron. This device has been developed to facilitate chemical biology screens on in vivo plant tissues. This allows for the automated screening of either dicot or monocot roots or aerial tissues that have been grown on media infused with whichever chemical is relevant for the intended expriments. In situ GUS screening is also possible allowing for researchers to integrate information about growth and gene expression. The use of ‘Phytostrips’ in a 96-well format allows for high-throughput screening that is aligned with AutoRoot automated image analysis software to provide a rapid and facile method for undertaking small scale phenotypic screens. The Microphenotron facility is housed at the Lancester University, who are extremely open to collaboration so please get in contact if you are interested in using the facility.

Tracy SR, Gómez JF, Sturrock CJ, Wilson ZA, Ferguson AC (2017) Non-destructive determination of floral staging in cereals using X-ray micro computed tomography (µCT) Plant Methods. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13007-017-0162-x Open AccessAlison Ferguson is the corresponding author on this methods paper that includes GARNet committee member Zoe Wilson and Saoirse Tracy from Dublin. They have developed a technique using X-ray µCT scanning to image developing flowers in Arabidopsis and barley plants, taking advantage of the excellent Hounsfield facility at the University of Nottingham. They show that the technique can be hugely beneficial for plant phenotyping by providing a non-destructive method of analyzing live floral development and how this can response to changes in the growth environment. Members of the Hounsfield facility are happy to discuss any potential collaborative work and future access to these type of facilities will hopefully be improved through the UKs involvement in the pan-european EMPHASIS project.

Ranjan Swarup (CPIB) is a co-author on this study that includes French and US researchers. Previously they had shown that expression of rice SHORTROOT (OsSHR) genes could compliment the Arabidopsis shr mutant. In this study they show that overexpression of OsSHR and AtSHR in rice roots causes growth of wider, shorter roots that have an increased number of cortical cell layers. This demonstrates that the mechanisms that control the differentiation of cortical cell layers is conserved throughout land plants, with SHR being a key determinant in this process.

Cyril Zipfel (The Sainsbury Lab) is a co-author on this study from the lab of Shauna Somerville in California that focuses on the concept of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). These can be defined as cell wall breakdown components and stimulate the same defence responses as more fully characterised pathogen- or microbe-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). Intuitively this makes sense as during infection many pathogens will cause cell wall breakdown. The authors show that cellulose-derived oligomers trigger a signalling response similar to that caused by oligogalacturonides or chito-oligomers but that lacks an increase in ROS or in callose deposition. These results confirm that cellulose-derived signals feed into the plants mechanism for cell wall scanning and acts synergistically with other signals that result from pathogen attack.

Image from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0176161717300433

Alexander Ruban (QMUL) leads this Sino-UK collaboration that investigates how the photoinhibiton of photosystem II impacts overall plant growth. In this study they use lincomycin to block chloroplast protein synthesis, which prevents the plant from restoring PSII function after photoinhibitory damage. Treated plants accumulate less starch and showed reduced above-ground biomass. This leads to a decrease in seed yield. Perhaps unsurprisingly this research shows that restoring the full function of PSII after photoinhibition to key to maintaining normally functioning electron transport rate that leads into metabolic production and growth rate.

This Arabidopsis Research Roundup has five papers that includes two from the John Innes Centre and two from the University of Edinburgh. Firstly Kristen Bomblies’s group at the JIC have investigated the relationship between temperature and meiotic recombination rates. Secondly Veronica Grieneisen and Stan Maree have developed a mathematical model to characterise cell morphologies taken[…]

The first two papers in this weeks Arabidopsis Research Roundup investigate different aspects of the plants response to temperature fluctuations. Firstly Lars Ostergaard (JIC) looks at the influence of temperature in the control of fruit dehiscence whilst Phil Wigge (SLCU) investigates crosstalk between chloroplast and nuclear signaling. The third paper from Ian Henderson (University of[…]

Charles Melnyk discusses a new paper published in PNAS that describes the molecular events that occur during grafting. The paper is entitled ‘Transcriptome dynamics at Arabidopsis graft junctions reveal an intertissue recognition mechanism that activates vascular regeneration‘ http://blog.garnetcommunity.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Melynk_180301.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

This edition of the Arabidopsis Research roundup beings with a study from SLCU that provides a molecular context to the changes that occur at graft junctions. Second is a study from Edinburgh that reports on the findings of a citizen science plant phenotyping project. Third are two studies from the John Innes Centre that follow-on[…]

This weeks Arabidopsis Research Roundup begins with a study from SLCU that investigates the interaction between nitrate and cytokinin signaling in the shoot meristem. Next is research from Sheffield that studies changes to the macromolecular composition of the photosynthetic apparatus following the transition from dark to light. Third are three papers that include University of[…]

GARNet with support from the Bristol Centre for Agricultural Innovation and New Phytologist are organising a Gene Editing Workshop that will take place at the University of Bristol on March 26th-27th 2018. This workshop is designed to encourage interactions and discussion about the use of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in plant systems. We are encouraging ECRs[…]

The cellular mechanics of auxin perception and signaling have been well studied over the past two decades. The pivotal interaction that controls this activity involves the auxin-dependent contact between the TIR1 receptor and a family of transcriptional regulators called AuxIAA proteins. This interaction has been characterised at a structural level with the auxin indole-3-acetic acid[…]

This weeks Arabidopsis Research Roundup begins with two papers from Royal Hollaway University of London that investigate the factors that control leaf development in the dark and the control of PIN1 phosphorylation. Third is a paper from Bristol that demonstrates the translation of research from Arabidopsis into coriander with regard the control of the response[…]

Enrique Lopez-Juez (Royal Holloway University of London) introduces a paper from that attempts to answer a critical question in plant science ‘Why do plants makes leaves in the dark‘? http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/early/2017/12/28/pp.17.01730.long http://blog.garnetcommunity.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Lopez_180116.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS